Pharaoh. Son of Rameses II the Great. His father's incredible reign left this thirteenth son an elderly successor to his father's legacy. He was, in fact, almost unknown until the 40th year of Rameses II's reign, when he was made General of the Army. He appeared not to have been made the heir until Rameses II's 55th year on the throne. He finally succeeded about 1213 BC. In the first years of Merenptah's reign, he crushed a revolt in Syria, stopped an invasion of the so called Sea People on Egypt's western borders with rapid mobilization and a pre-emptive strike, apparently slaughtering many of the invaders. The Nubians to the south also revolted, but Merenptah inflicted a crushing defeat on them as well. He moved from his father's capital back to Memphis, where he constructed a royal palace next to the temple of Ptah. He sent a grain shipment to the Hittites to relieve a famine in accordance with a treaty. He also built a mortuary temple behind the Colossi of Memnon. Merenptah is another of the candidates thought perhaps to have been the pharaoh of the Exodus. Merenptah probably died around 1202 BC and was entombed in what is now designated as tomb KV8 in the Valley of the Kings. When it was discovered, however, his mummy was not found within the tomb. It was finally found among eighteen others in the royal mummy cache discovered in 1898 in KV35. He name has also been spelled Merneptah or Mery-netjeru. (bio by: Iola)